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lorida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, considered a powerful Hispanic political player and rising star in his party, has consistently said no to having vice presidential aspirations. But still, the question keeps coming up. Rubio, the popular Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants, has been seen by some inside Republican circles as a great "get" as a possible No. 2 on a hypothetical presidential ticket, and is already showing his power to influence the process. Just this week he pushed back on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich after the Republican presidential candidate ran a Spanish language radio ad labeling former Gov. Mitt...

U.S. Rep. Allen West, who generally has deflected suggestions that he could be a vice-presidential candidate, now is saying he would “step up to the plate” if asked. The freshman Florida Republican and tea party favorite took that swing at pitches from three constituents at a town hall meeting, according to The Palm Beach Post. In answer to the voters’ written questions at the meeting, West said: "If people come to me and ask me to continue to serve my country in a higher capacity, I'm not going to say no. It would be an incredible privilege and honor. I...

With not one Republican primary vote cast yet, we're getting way ahead of ourselves by speculating about whom Mitt Romney might pick as his vice-presidential running mate. But Willie Geist did invite Politico's Mike Allen to make his "bold predictions" for 2012. And Allen delivered, prognosticating that Romney would pick Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman as his ticket-mate. Mark Halperin strongly seconded Allen's assertion. View the video here.

Baghdad (CNN) -- Iraq's Judicial Committee issued an arrest warrant Monday for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who is accused of orchestrating bombing attacks. The warrant was issued under "Article 4," which is terrorism. The Interior Ministry, at a news conference, showed what it called confession videos from people identified as security guards for al-Hashimi, the country's Sunni vice president. In the videos, the men described various occasions in which they purportedly carried out attacks under direct orders from al-Hashimi. One man said he carried out assassination attempts using roadside bombs and guns with silencers. He said the orders came from...

Herman Cain is expected to make a "major announcement" today, anytime between 11am and 1pm EST in Atlanta. The media is assuming he will quit the race. Politico is positively glowing with anticipation of this. Will he fold, or FIGHT? He is also opening a new Atlanta HQ. Twitter reports that people are jamming in early to show their support. We simply don't know what will happen, or when it will happen. What are your thoughts? Do you think he should quit? Or do you think Cain should stay in the race and deny the State-Run Media yet another GOP...

Ever since he won the Florida U.S. Senate seat, folks have been talking up Marco Rubio's vice-presidential credentials. But Condoleezza Rice, who has been in the news a lot lately, is a better bet to be the No. 2 candidate for a Mitt Romney or Rick Perry candidacy. Here's why.

A GOP presidential candidate can get within spitting distance of 50 percent of Florida’s voters if Sen. Marco Rubio is his or her vice-presidential running mate, according to a new poll from Suffolk University in Boston. The poll what may be an even more enticing proposition for President Barack Obama: Were he to jettison Joe Biden and replace him with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his level of support would rocket up from the low-40s to 50 percent, said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s political research center. “I was amazed at not only how much she moves the tickets,” Paleologos...

Rep. Paul Ryan (R -Wis.) may have disappointed some conservatives when he ruled out a president bid earlier this month. But that doesn't mean that the chairman of the House Budget Committee wouldn't consider a spot on the national ticket. Asked during an interview with MacIver News Service if he would accept a spot as a vice presidential candidate, the Republican lawmaker declined to rule out the possibility. "Who knows? Like I said, I just cross bridges when I get to them," Ryan said. The seven-term lawmaker said that he decided against running for president both because he felt that...

“Fifty years from now, 100 years from now, historians and scholars will judge us based upon whether or not we’re able to establish a strong, permanent and friendly working relationship,” Vice President Joe Biden said today in Beijing, speaking to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. “There’s no more important relationship that we need to establish on the part of the United States than a close relationship with China.” Wrong on all accounts, Mr. Vice President. Historians and scholars will judge the United States on whether it was able to maintain the post-war liberal, international system that led to global prosperity...

Someone please tell me; what exactly does Joe Biden do, other than shoot off his trigger-happy pie hole on regular occasions? My serious guess is that Obama selected him as VP so that no matter how bad Ø turned out to be, he would still seem miles above the dork at his right.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO has optioned the book Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Barton Gellman for a miniseries to be executive produced by Paula Weinstein. The mini, which will be based on the bestselling book and the FRONTLINE documentary The Dark Side, tells the story of Richard Bruce Cheney from his early days as Donald Rumsfeld’s protégé in the Nixon administration, to the nation's youngest Chief of Staff under President Ford, to serving as Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush, through two controversial terms as Vice President under President George W. Bush. According to the producers, the...

As a thank-you to its most famous customer, Amtrak is renaming the train station in Wilmington, Del., after stimulus “sheriff” Vice President Joseph R. Biden - after the project received $20 million in stimulus money and came in $5.7 million over the initial announced budget. Spokesmen for Mr. Biden, who said he personally fought for stimulus money for Amtrak, didn’t respond to messages Wednesday or Thursday.

Vice President Joe Biden is a career politician who has spent virtually his entire adult life in Washington politics — seemingly the antithesis of Barack Obama's hope-and-change message. Yet with a new political order in Washington, the success of Obama's presidency hinges more and more on the negotiating skills and political instincts of his No. 2. Facing a revived Republican Party, the White House is expected to increasingly deploy Biden as a presidential surrogate to find compromises and coax reluctant lawmakers into crossing party lines. Even Biden's penchant for veering off message is being reevaluated inside the White House as...

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack Obama stated that Iran had a vital role to play in the future of Afghanistan. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Afghanistan's Vice-President, Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, met with both the Iranian President and Defense Minister over the weekend. Mr. Fahim toured Iran's Defense Ministry Abilities exhibition on Saturday and held talks with Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, where he thanked Iran for its support of the Afghan nation and called for increased cooperation, particularly in the area of defense. Fahim decribed Iran’s role in helping to restore security to Afghanistan as...

As if any more proof were needed that the world of politics is far removed from the one that the rest of us inhabit, I submit the following statement from Vice President Joe Biden: “Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive” (more)

. . .Biden and his boys gradually recovered and, over time, the young senator emerged as the most eligible bachelor in Washington. In 1974, when he was interviewed for The Washingtonian by Kitty Kelley, an early pioneer in the art of the embarrassing celebrity profile, Kelley clearly charmed her subject. Biden foolishly (and typically) took her into his confidence, speaking openly of his grief, and in startlingly intimate terms about his relationship with the departed Neilia. Biden described her as “my very best friend, my greatest ally, my sensuous lover.” The two of them had enjoyed a “sensational” marriage, sharing...

He said... She said... The Looking Spoon is a conservative humor/satire/art/commentary blog, visit www.thelookingspoon.com to see more posts and art

(snip) ... There has been speculation of just such a deal for some time now. The speculation has proved to be accurate. The Obama White House is very concerned with the possibility of Hillary Clinton seeking the nomination in 2012. Very-very concerned, and for good reason. Democratic Party supporters – I’m talking some very deep pockets and very considerable influence, have been engaging in some speculative chatter of that nature for a while. When that happens, its a warning shot at the White House that says to them you better get things back on track or we are going to...

Vice President Joe Biden will visit Omaha this month to help raise money for Democrat Tom White, who is seeking to unseat Republican Rep. Lee Terry in Nebraska's 2nd House District. White campaign spokesman Ian Russell confirmed Friday that Biden will be at the Field Club of Omaha on Sept. 30. Russell said White, a state legislator from Omaha, looks forward to talking to Biden "about creating jobs and reducing the deficit." Dave Boomer, campaign spokesman for Terry, said Biden's visit "verifies what we've been saying all along: that Tom White is another vote for the Obama agenda that will...

As President Obama sinks in the polls, Democrats and liberal pundits inevitably are searching for a scapegoat. The most likely victim appears to be gaffe-prone Vice President Joe Biden, who has become the focus of speculation that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just might replace him on the 2012 Democratic ticket. Former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder, his state's first African-American governor, touched off the controversy. Writing at Politico.com last week, Mr. Wilder argued that Mr. Biden's tenure has been undistinguished and chock full of "too many YouTube moments." He charged that Mr. Biden "has continued to undermine what little confidence...

Not only would it be unbecoming of the Obama Administration to “let a crisis go to waste“, apparently the same philosophy applies to photo-ops. Fresh off the heels of calling the manager of a Wisconsin custard shop a “smartass” for asking him to lower their taxes, Vice President Joe Biden made his way down to the site of the oil spill. Billy Nungesser, Plaquemines Parish President, was under the impression that he was going to sit down and have a meeting with the VP, except it never happened. Instead, Biden showed up 3 hours late, took a picture, and marched...

The Looking Spoon is a conservative humor/satire/art/commentary blog, visit www.thelookingspoon.com to see more posts and art

MARLOW HEIGHTS, Md. - U.S. Park Police say a man was fatally struck by two U.S. Secret Service vehicles at a Suitland Parkway intersection. Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley says the two armored vehicles were traveling from Andrews Air Force Base to a Washington garage when the pedestrian was hit around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Suitland Parkway and Naylor Road in Temple Hills. Wiley says the vehicles were returning from a vice presidential trip to Fort Lewis in Washington state. He says the Secret Service employees driving the vehicles immediately stopped to help the man.

HAVANA (AFP) – Cuban Vice President Juan Almeida Bosque, a revolutionary commander who fought alongside Fidel Castro to bring down a pro-American dictatorship, has died. He was 82. An official communique issued through state media said Almeida, the number three official in the Americas' only communist regime, died late Friday from cardiac arrest. Almeida was one of just three top Cuban leaders to hold the title of revolutionary commander. As a black man in racially diverse Cuba, Almeida was an important visual symbol of a break with the past, particularly in 1950s Cuba, when racism and discrimination were common. His...

Joe Biden can be so much fun. Just when I get tired of fighting the good fight the SHMOTUS (Shmo of The United States) opens his mouth and all is funny with the world. You know what I am describing. Like for example: * When he said that President FDR ‘Got on Television’ to Talk about 1929 Market Crash. Now FDR wasn't president when the market crashed, AND the first televised presidential speech was September 4, 1951 by HARRY TRUMAN. * Or when hes said that the US "along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said, and...

Syracuse, N.Y. (AP) - Vice President Joe Biden plans to visit Syracuse next month to attend a private fundraiser for Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei.

Cheney — code-named Angler by the Secret Service — is a lot like fishing in dark water; there’s a lot going on underneath, but you’d never know it from staring at the surface… “I think it’s fair to argue,” said Cheney, “that we’re not going to have the same safeguards we’ve had for the last eight years.” ... It’s a good thing we had Dick Cheney in the Vice President’s office in the days following the 9/11 attacks. Cheney was the right man at the right time in history and was instrumental in launching the counter-attack against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan...

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.

Biden Aide Denies Vice President Leaked Classified Location of Cheney Bunker An aide to Vice President Joe Biden says he was merely describing a guest room in the Naval Observatory when he told dinner guests about what was reported to be a secret bunker. FOXNews.com Monday, May 18, 2009 Vice President Joe Biden did not leak classified information when he reportedly described to dinner guests the location of a "hideaway" his predecessor, Dick Cheney, used in the days following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, an aide to Biden said Monday. "There was no disclosure of classified information," spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander...

This just in from Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, a frequent purveyor of political anecdotes. She bring us an enlightening one here regarding the (quote) undisclosed location (unquote) we heard lots about in the days after Sept. 11. Here's Eleanor: Ever wonder about that secure, undisclosed location where Dick Cheney secreted himself after the 9/11 attacks? Joe Biden reveals the bunker-like room is at the Naval Observatory in Washington, where Cheney lived for eight years and which is now home to Biden. The veep related the story to his head-table dinner mates when he filled in for President Obama at the Gridiron...

Yikes! What is the implication? He doesn't like being called Vice President or that he doesn't like being Vice President? Maybe he feels just like I do; I said the exact same thing when Obama announced Biden as his running mate last summer! My man Jake Tapper reports: At an event at Union Station today where Vice President Joe Biden was heralding the $1.3 billion in investments in rebuilding train stations and passenger rails, a microphone picked up one of the former senator's myriad Senate colleagues addressing him, formally, as "Mr. Vice President." That met with Vice President Biden's standard...

Joe Biden is a bungling idiot who is better off kept away from sharp objects. One might view him as a real-life version of Ruprecht the Monkey Boy who poked himself in the precautionary-measure eye-patch with his cork topped fork. Or is he? Maybe Biden's ravings have all been an act to fool our enemies into underestimating his true genius. In fact, maybe Joe Biden has been carefully stockpiling his genius for a moment when it would be actually needed. That international crisis Biden blabbed about a couple of months ago unfolds and then, BLAMMO! Out springs this political and...

Joe Biden has been talking about his favorite topic -- Joe Biden. In particular, he's been attempting to talk his way past the widespread view that he, Joe Biden, marks a return to the days of the irrelevant vice president. Talkin' Joe himself has contributed to that perception by insisting that he will not be like Dick Cheney. A more astute vice president-elect would have little trouble distinguishing himself from Cheney without casting doubt on his own relevance. The problem with Cheney, from a liberal perspective, should not be that he was the foremost of Bush advisors. Cheney was, after...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new national poll suggests that almost a quarter of Americans think that Dick Cheney is the worst vice president in American history. Vice President Dick Cheney says he's comfortable with his accomplishments and isn't troubled by his ratings. Vice President Dick Cheney says he's comfortable with his accomplishments and isn't troubled by his ratings. Twenty-three percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday say that Cheney is the country's worst vice president, when compared with his predecessors.

Dick Cheney can take care of himself, that's why it has been so strange that the most powerful Vice President in American history has keep his mouth shut while being vilified by Joe Biden. It seems as if Joe Biden accused him of everything from being the most dangerous VP in history to causing the NY Mets collapse, and the death of Paul Newman. Finally Cheney is fighting back, on today's Fox News Sunday he shoved it right back at the Vice President Elect:

Vice-president elect Joe Biden Fargo, North Dakota, Nov 22, 2008 / 02:14 pm (CNA).- Following the Fall meeting of the U.S. Catholic bishops in Baltimore, where they pledged not to yield ground to the incoming Obama administration on the issue of abortion, Bishop Samuel Aquila has revealed that vice president-elect Joe Biden is struggling with his conscience over his support for abortion.Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minnesota and Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota are just two of the bishops who have increased their efforts to speak more forcefully and clearly on the issue of abortion over the...

The Republican Party without its conservative base is nothing but a mutual admiration society of Washington cocktail swizzle sticks and their doting pundits pontificating losing strategies. John McCain had a lousy message and was a lousy messenger to boot. I wrote in September that he was the media choice because he would lose. I also wrote that Sarah Palin was the only thing that gave his campaign a chance against his own McCain-Feingold booby trap, which the artful dodger Obama handily side stepped. I expect the media and inside the Republican Party know-it-alls to blame the loss of this election...

One thing the organizers did right - they brought in TWO cranes to fly the flag high: It was so hot and the sun was just killing us. My son took to laying on the ground so he could get some shade from me: For some reason, they like to pile oranges up wherever Sarah goes in Florida: Various crowd shots: The West Port High School color guard presented the colors: This third grade class sang a tribute to the armed forces: Congressman Rick Keller: Congressman Cliff Stearns: The truth of this sign is undeniable: Sarah and Todd enter the...

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Two months ago, John McCain pulled Alaska Governor Sarah Palin from relative political obscurity and placed her into the world spotlight. Now, less then one week before the presidential election, Palin reflects on one of the biggest moments of her youth; winning her high school basketball state championship. Outside the Lines' Sal Paolantonio discusses the biggest game of her life with Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. 3:27 runtime

I just want to share my memories of the Sarah Palin rally today in Kissimmee, Florida. My mom and dad and I left Daytona Beach today around 9AM and made our way to the event, where we were joined by my friend Olga. The weather was beautiful outside while we waited to get int, and we could not have enjoyed ourselves more. It was the most worthwhile experience possible. Here are my pictures: The Ticket: The Venue - the Silver Spurs Rodeo Arena in Kissimmee, FL: Always good to see the old girl flying high: And also good to see...

Go ahead and vote: http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

"Doesn't really surprise me that they don't seem to hear the slip up there...they don't pay attention to much or they wouldn't be supporting a shady guy like Barry, who is far from democrat - he is a socialist (that's COMMUNIST for you illiterates out there) taking a ride on the (very naive) democratic ticket. God help us." jennifer846

Senator Joe Biden introduced as "Senator John McCain" at Democratic Rally in Florida. On purpose??????

I'll be glad when these media events dopey journalists call "debates" are over. A real debate involves an extended discussion of issues, such as was done during the debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. The media events of today only give the participants sufficient time to repeat political cliches and other sound bites. This approach favors politicians like Sen. Joe Biden who lack the intelligence to understand the complexity of the real world. For example, Biden seems incapable of understanding that wars cannot be conducted according to strict timetables because the enemy and the weather only...

UPDATED: Thursday's debate between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden proved prognosticators correct and scored extremely high viewership. Last night's debate totaled a 45.0 overnight meter-market household rating, according to Nielsen That's 42% higher than Friday's presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, which scored a collective 31.6 rating among the broadcast and cable networks. It's also a stunning 60% higher than the 2004 debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. In fact, the figure surpasses any presidential debate since 1992's second bout between Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George Bush. The ratings will likely decrease...

Comeback Sarah Palin changed her image overnight. by Fred Barnes The moment when Sarah Palin knew she was winning last night's debate with her vice presidential opponent Joe Biden came after the subject had turned to nuclear weapons. Palin had talked about nukes as a deterrent and said it was important to keep them out of the hands of dictators who are enemies of America. Then she turned to moderator Gwen Ifill and asked, "Can we talk about Afghanistan real quick?" Afghanistan? The impression Palin had left in television interviews with ABC's Charles Gibson and CBS's Katie Couric was that...

Palin Shines by Steve Skojec 10/02/08 I've been one of the conservatives critical of Gov. Sarah Palin, and her recent media interviews have only intensified my concerns. I did not expect her to do well tonight, and said so publicly. I was wrong. I'm impressed with her ability to turn things around, grab hold of her confidence, and outshine Joe Biden - a likeable guy. As a trad Catholic and paleoconservative, I'm a perpetual malcontent, so I'm not going to say I was impressed with everything she had to say, only with how she said it. She was good on...

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